Capping machine for self-lighting cigarettes



Sept. 6 1955 F. WlTT CAPPING MACHINE FOR SELF-LIGHTING CIGARETTES Filed Oct. 11, 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet l QN vw \N NN Mm m W m M U r :1

Sept. 6 1955 F. WlTT CAPPING MACHINE FOR SELF-LIGHTING CIGARETTES Filed Oct. 11, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR.

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CAPPING MACHINE FOR SELF-LIGHTING CIGARETTES Filed 00tll, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 oooo oooooooooo IN VEN TOR.

Fran/r W/ff Fig 6 United States Patent CAPPING MACHINE FOR SELF-LIGHTING CIGARETTES Frank Witt, San Carlos, Calif. Application October 11, 1954, Serial No. 461,363 6 Claims. (Cl. 131-88) This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in capping machines for self-lighting cigarettes, and is a continuation-in-part of the application filed by Frank Witt on August 10, 1953, Serial No. 373,399.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a machine which will automatically advance a series of preformed cigarettes, indent a hole in the end of each cigarette, then place a cap on the end of each cigarette in such a manner that the cap, which carries igniting material, will adhere to the end of the cigarette and have its edges folded over the end of the cigarette and adhered thereto.

A further object is to produce a device of this character wherein the cigarette will not be mutilated during its passage through the machine.

in the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and in which like numbers are employed to designate like parts throughout the same,

Fig. l is a side elevation of my capping machine, partly in cross section; and partly in phantom;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of Fig. 1, portions thereof being broken away;

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view of one of the igniting caps as the same will appear when cut from the ignition strip;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary cross sectional view taken on the line 44 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary side elevation of a cigarette having the cap adhered thereto;

Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view on an enlarged scale taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 1, portions being shown in elevation;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary cross sectional View taken on the line 77 of Fig. 2; and

Pig. 8 is a diagrammatic view showing the means of feeding the ignition strip.

In producin a self-lighting cigarette it is necessary to to the end thereof some form of igniting material so that when this ignition material is rubbed over an igniting surface, fire will be struck, which fire will, in turn, ignite the tobacco in the end of the cigarette.

Applicant has therefore devised a machine which will accomplish this object by applying an adhesive-coated cap to the end of each cigarette and to then form the edges of the cap around the end of the cigarette so that adhesion will take place, thus holding the cap to the end of the cigarette against any tension which may be placed on it during the striking operation.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown a preferred embodiment of my invention, the numeral 5 designates a base upon which the machine is mounted, and mounted above said base is a hopper 6 in which a plurality of cigarettes 7 are placed. By viewing Fig. 4 it will be noted that the bottom of the hopper has a plurality of channels 8 which serve to position a series of cigarettes as they feed downwardly in the hopper so that each cigarette will be in alignment with a series of aligned pushers 9, which are reciprocated Cir Ice

through the medium of a bell crank lever 11, which is actuated by a cam 12 mounted upon a shaft 13.

Mounted in front of the hopper 6 is a plate 14 which has formed therein a plurality of receiving tubes 16.

At 17 I have shown a shaft which has a bar 18 secured thereto upon which are mounted a series of tapered pins or indenters 19. This shaft 17 is rocked through the medium of a cam 21 engaging a roller 22 secured to an arm 23 extending from the shaft 17 and against the tension of spring 20.

Arranged directly in front of the discharge end of the receiving tubes 16 are the funnel-like openings 24 of guide tubes 26, which are vertically arranged and in alignment with heater tubes 27 but spaced therefrom for the purpose of permitting a carrier 28 having a series of aligned tubular carrier openings to be reciprocated from its full line posi tion in Fig. 1 to its dotted line position through the medium of a bell crank lever 29, which has a fork end 31 engaging a roller 32 carried on the end of the rod 33 on which the carrier 28 is secured.

A cam 34 actuates the bell crank 29 against the tension of a spring 36. A roller 37 carried on the lever of the bell crank engages the cam 34.

Mounted in vertical alignment with the advanced position of the carrier, in the full line position in Fig. 1, is a die 38 having a series of openings 40 and through which die a strip of paper 39 moves, which strip has ignition dots 41 spaced thereon (see Figs. 2 and 6). Appropriate mechanism to be later described feeds this paper strip so that each dot of ignition material thereon is directly centered over its respective die opening 49. Therefore, when levers 42 are moved upwardly by earns 43, the first action will be to engage the rollers 35 to force the punches 44 upwardly and at the same time the springs 46 will shove the holding block 47 upwardly, thus pinching the paper strip 39 against the die 38, thus holding the paper strip in fixed position; thence further movement of the punches will cause the discs (see Fig. 3) to be punched from the paper strip and at the same time moved upwardly against the bottom of the carrier 28, to the position as shownin Fig. 7. I

It is to be here noted that previous to the carrier 28 being moved to its full line position, it has been moved from its dotted line position toward the left of the drawing,

and in so doing, it has passed over the adhesive roller 48,

the periphery of which is being rotated at the same speed as the advancing movement of the carrier. Thus, the bottom of the tubular carrier receives an even coating of adhesive material.

In order that the roller does not contact the carrier and its adhered ignition discs on its return movement to the dotted line position, the adhesive receptacle 49 moves up and down through the action of a cam 51, which is so arranged that it raises the receptacle and the adhesive roller to its upper position as the tubular carrier 28 moves to the left of the drawing and drops it out of contacting po sition as the tubular carrier moves toward the right to its dotted line position.

Slidably mounted above the axis of the guide tubes 26 are a plurality of aligned plungers 52 secured to a cross piece 53 which cross piece is reciprocated by a yoke 54 secured to the shaft 17. This yoke engages a roller 56 de pending from the cross piece 53.

The plungers 52 are reciprocated in proper sequence so as to shove the cigarettes into the tubes 26, as will be later described.

At 57 I have shown a motor which is connected by a chain 58 to the shaft 59, upon which the cam 34 is mounted, the result being that as the shaft is rotated, the cam 34 will in turn rotate and cause reciprocation of the carrier 28.

A chain 61 delivers power from the shaft 59 to the shaft 13 upon which the cam 12 is positioned. The rotation of this cam in turn causes the pushers 9 to feed cigarettes from the hopper to the plate 14. A chain 63 delivers power from the shaft 13 to the shaft 64, upon which the cam 21 is positioned, with the result that as the cam 21 rotates, the shaft 17 will be rocked, causing the plungers 52 to move up and down, and also to cause the bar 18 to rock and force the indenters 19 into the end of the cigarettes.

A chain 66 delivers power from the shaft 59 to the adhesive roller 48 and also to a shaft 67, upon which cams 68 are positioned. These cams in turn cause a heater 69 to move up and down along the heater tubes 27. At the same time a chain 71 delivers power from the shaft 67 to cam 51, which will raise and lower the adhesive receptacle 49.

A chain 73 delivers power from the shaft 67 to the shaft 74, which carries the earns 43, which cams when rotated cause the levers 42 to move up and down to effect the punching operation.

A motor 76 drives feed rollers 77, which feed the strip 39 through the die and it will be noted in Fig. 8 that this strip has a series of openings 78 punched therein, which when moved into alignment with an electric eye 79, serve to break the circuit to the motor 76, and thus stop further advance of the tape.

A driven cam 81 serves to again close the circuit in proper sequence with the operation of the mechanism, thus causing the strip 39 to be advanced in a step by step movement through the die.

Assuming that the machine is to be operated, the hopper 6 will be fiiled with cigarettes, the lower layer of which will come to position in the channels 8 and in alignment with their respective pushers 9.

Therefore, as the pushers 9 are advanced through the rotation of the cam 12, and rocker arm 11, a plurality of cigarettes will be simultaneously moved into their respective tubes 16, at which time the rotating shaft 64 will in turn cause the cam 21 to rock the shaft 17 and cause the bar 18 to move downwardly, thus forcing the indenters 19 into the ends of the cigarettes positioned in the tubes 16.

At this time the back end of the cigarette will be abutting the pushers 9 and therefore will resist the indenter as it enters the cigarette. Therefore a positive indentation will be formed in the end of each cigarette. We will now assume that the second cycle of the machine is taking place, and a second series of cigarettes are being advanced into the tubes 16.

This will cause the first series of cigarettes to move out of the tubes and to fall into the respective funnel-like openings 24 and to assume a vertical position in the guide tubes 26.

While this is taking place, the cam 34 will have been rotating, as well as the cams 43 and 51, as they are all driven from the shaft 59 through the chains 66, 73 and 71 respectively.

The cam 34 acting through the bell crank lever 29 will cause the rod 33 to move back and forth to push the carrier 28 into either the full line or the dotted line position.

The cam 51 during its rotation will raise and lower the adhesive receptacle 49, while the cams 43 will raise the levers 42 with the following result:

Assuming that a strip of paper 39having ignition material thereon has been pre-positioned in the machine, upward movement of the levers 42 will cause the punches 44 to move upwardly, and the springs 46 will first press against the holding block 47, move it upwardly against the strip so that the strip will be pinched between the holding block and the die 38. Further upward movement of the punches will cut discs from the strip and move these discs upwardly against the bottom of the carrier 28. As this carrier, in moving from its dotted line position to its full line position (see Fig. 1), will have passed over the adhesive roller 48, and will have received a thin coating to which the discs will adhere, as best shownv in the 4 middle portion of Fig. 7, further movement of the cam 34 will now cause the carrier to move from its full line position of Fig. l to the dotted line position, and at the same time, the holding block will be moved downwardly so that the paper 39 may be advanced, as will be later described.

When the carrier has reached its dotted line position, the plungers 52 will be moved downwardly to push the cigarettes which are in the tubes 26 downwardly through the carrier, thus forcing the discs off from the carrier and forming their edges around the edges of the cigarettes, as illustrated in the right-hand portion of Fig. 7.

Following cigarettes will force the preceding cigarettes downwardly through the heater tubes 27, thus drying the adhesive and permanently affixing the caps to the ends of the cigarettes.

It is of course understood that all of the cams are so arranged that all of the operations are in proper sequence. T he electric eye 79, together with the switch actuating cam 81, serves to advance the paper strip also in proper sequence.

It is to be understood that the form of my invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same and that various changes relative to the material, size, shape and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In apparatus for attaching an igniting cap to an end of a cigarette, a cigarette hopper, a cigarette receiving tube, means for singly delivering a cigarette from the hopper into the receiving tube, means for indenting the leading end of the cigarette, a guide tube receiving the indented cigarette, a translatable tubular carrier normally positioned below the guide tube, a driven adhesive coated roller in the path of the carrier, means for raising and lowering said roller for intermittent rolling contact with the lower end of the carrier in one direction of movement of the carrier thereover to deposit adhesive on the lower end of the carrier, a die positioned beyond the roller with the carrier movable to a position over the die, means for feeding a strip having spaced igniting dots on opposite faces to said die with the igniting dots arranged in opposed pairs and for punching a disc including an opposed pair of igniting dots from the strip and presenting the upper side of the disc to the adhesive lower coated end of the carrier with an igniting dot directed upwardly into the carrier, a heater tube below and in vertical alignment with the guide tube and means for feeding a cigarette through the guide tube and carrier into the heater tube with the cigarette carrying therewith the disc on the carrier with the edges of the disc folded around the end of the cigarette and with an igniting dot extending into the indented end of the cigarette.

2. Apparatus as in claim 1, wherein the cigarette endindenting means includes a pivoted arm having a spear point and cam means for moving the arm to cause the spear point to form an indentation in the end of the cigarette.

3. Apparatus as in claim 1, wherein a cam-operated bell-crank is operatively engaged with the carrier for moving the carrier over the adhesive-coated roller and die and returning the carrier with an igniting disc adhesively attached thereto to a vertically aligned position with the guide tube and heater tube.

4. Apparatus as in claim 1, wherein a receptacle containing adhesive is provided, the adhesive-coated roller being journalled in the receptacle, and means are provided for raising and lowering the receptacle to place the rotating roller in position for contact with the lower end of the tubular carrier when the latter passes thereover in a direction of movement toward said die.

5. Apparatus as in claim 1, wherein a pressure plate engages the strip in the die for arresting movement of the strip while a disc is punched therefrom with the disc moved into contact with the adhesive-coated end of said carrier.

6. In apparatus for attaching an igniting cap to an end of a cigarette, an assembly including a vertically disposed guide tube, a heater tube below the guide tube in spaced relation thereto and in vertical alignment there with and a vertically movable plunger above and in line with the guide tube for moving cigarettes downwardly through the guide tube and into the heater tube, a cigarette hopper at one side of and above the guide tube, a receiving tube associated with the hopper, means for delivering a single cigarette from the hopper into the receiving tube, means at the outlet end of the receiving tube for indenting the leading end of the cigarette before its discharge into the guide tube, a tubular carrier normally interposed between the guide tube and heater tube, an adhesive receptacle with a driven roller therein at the side of said tubes opposite the cigarette hopper, a die positioned outwardly of said adhesive receptacle, a cam mechanism for moving the carrier over the roller and into an arrested position over the die and raising the adhesive receptacle whereby the driven roller therein applies a coat of adhesive to the lower end of the carrier, means for feeding a strip having spaced igniting dots on opposite faces to said die with the igniting dots arranged in opposed pairs, and operating means for the die to eifect the punching of a disc from the strip with the opposed igniting dots centrally of the disc and moving the punched disc into adhesive contact with the lower end of said carrier, said cam mechanism returning the carrier to its normal position with the ignited disc thereon into vertical alignment with and between the guide tube and heater tube and said plunger being operative for forcing a cigarette downwardly through the guide tube and carrier to have the igniting disc on the carrier attached to the leading end of the cigarette with the marginal edge of the discfolded around the edge of the cigarette.

References Cited in the file of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS 370,502 Italy Apr. 18, 1939 

